Coffee Shop (EXO Xiuhan/Lumin)

What happens before

A/N: I like posting stories in chapters... It makes it feel more... non-one shot like.

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When Minseok came home, he was dead tired. After closing-hours Lay had come around and the three of them had been sitting there, drinking coffee and talking until after midnight. Luckily, it was Sunday tomorrow. No work.

As soon as Minseok stepped inside his apartment he threw off his jacket and shoes, and almost stumbled down the few steps to the living room. Without much trouble he found the couch, and fell limp it as soon as he reached it. He wondered if he had the energy to change his clothes and get into bed. He decided that he was too tired, and fell asleep, lying with his face down in the comfortable couch. And then he started dreaming about a weird cat with lasers that wouldn’t let him on the bus, and a flying carpet of some sort. But in the end, there was one person he especially dreamed about, a person that was his companion in all his dreams. Luhan.

For the next couple weeks, Luhan came in almost every day to the same time. It was really nice. He would help them out, and they would talk and joke around. It was really fun being Lay and Minseok, but it was even funnier being Lay, Luhan and Minseok. And Lay didn’t seem bothered by it either. Luhan was a really easy-going person, so they clicked pretty well.

But something was changing inside Minseok. Whenever Luhan came around, Minseok felt extra happy. Every time, he would get this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he gradually became more confused. What was going on with him? This wasn’t what he was used to. It wasn’t like it bothered him, though. Maybe it would go over, like most things eventually did.

It was a Sunday somewhere in early March when Minseok woke up on his couch. It wasn’t very unusual, really. It had become a habit that he, Luhan and Lay would sit and talk way into the night on Saturdays, so he always came home late. Most Saturdays, he was so tired that he didn’t even bother to go to his bed like a proper human. He just dropped down on the very comfortable couch.

Minseok woke up slowly. He slipped in and out of a comatose-like state a few times, waking up and then starting to dream again. But then, suddenly, his brain was just enough awake to realize where he was. And Minseok opened up his eyes wide, realizing where he was. Damnit, he had actually planned to sleep in his bed last night! Sleeping on the couch wasn’t all perks, and it often left him with marks. This made him bolt up, running to the bathroom. He had slept with his face down, and had now a questionable couch-fabric mark on his left cheek. He studied it. Great. He'd planned to go post some letters to his family in the post-office today, but wondered if he should, now like he looked like a complete moron. He decided to eat breakfast first, and then, if the mark was gone, eventually go out.

As Minseok sat down in the kitchen with his food, he sighed. This apartment was way too big for him. It even had a guest-bedroom, which Minseok found completely unnecessary. He had like five friends combined, and everyone of them had their own place to sleep. But his parents were paying for this, and even though he'd told them that he did just as well on his own and didn't need this, they had insisted. All this was way too... Everything for him. Too big. Too notable. Too much. There were a couple of paintings on the walls. A living room big enough to have two couches, a table and a tv, with still enough space to move freely around. A student wasn't supposed to live this way. A student was supposed to strive to earn enough money to eat, while balancing work and school. But his parents didn't understand.

Okay, so they had a little money. Well, more than a little. However, Minseok didn't want to live his life, depending on them. That's why he worked at the coffee shop. He bought his own clothes, food and other necessary items with that money. At least, it made him feel a little independent.

Minseok slowly ate his breakfast. It was really easy today - some cereal that had been standing on the kitchen counter for ages already. The clock on the wall told him that it was only ten past eleven in the morning, and that stupid post-office didn't open until one o'clock. He still had three hours to spend on God-knows-what.

So he wandered aimlessly around for a while. Went in and out of all the rooms. He almost walked out on the balcony, but just as he was going to open the door, he realized that a small storm was waging outside. So he'd have to bring an umbrella today. If it was something Minseok hated, it was getting wet.

The clock slowly ticked away, until it in the end became a quarter to one. Minseok decided that it was a fitting time to go out - he would be home again in less than forty-five minutes. So he put on his shoes and jacket, and grabbed a red umbrella that he earlier had thrown in the hallway not to forget it. And then he headed out, into the small rainstorm outside.